Series tied at 2

Perhaps the Atlanta Hawks knew what they were talking about. Before and during the series, the young Hawks thought this series with the Celtics was going to be a good matchup for them.

Former Celtics player Joe Johnson scored 20 of his playoff career-high 35 points in the fourth quarter as the Hawks evened the best-of-seven first round playoff series at two games with a 97-92 victory tonight at Phillips Arena.

Game 5 will be Wednesday at T.D. Banknorth Arena, a much need refuge for a Celtics team that has had a tough time on the road down south.

The Celtics appeared to have the game in control, going into the final quarter with a 10-point lead.

However, Johnson and Josh Smith accounted for all 32 of the team's fourth quarter points.

Atlanta entered this playoff series with the worst record of any postseason team and was its first post-season appearance since 1999. Even so, the hungry Hawks had the words: ''Never Be Satisfied'' written lockeroom board during shoot around for motivation.

''You can't be satisfied.'' Hawks forward Josh Smith said at pre-game yesterday. ''You can't be satisfied with just winning one game. We're trying to win the series.''

The disappointed Celtics watched game film for about 90 minutes as their practice Sunday the day after losing Game 3 here. The goal was to come into last night's game with a stronger sense of urgency and focus.

''There wasn't a whole lot of talking,'' said Celtics guard Ray Allen, before the game.
The Celtics definitely opened the game with a sense of urgency and focus. Boston opened the game with a 16-3 lead, which included two 3-pointers each by Allen and Paul Pierce. A Kendrick Perkins put back gave Boston a 21-9 lead with 4:55 left in the first quarter.
The gritty Hawks, however, swarmed back with a 15-4 run to take a 25-24 lead after a Mike Bibby made free throw with 1 minute left in the first. At that point, three Celtics starters, Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo were all on the bench with two fouls. Joe Johnson nailed an 18-foot jumper at the first quarter buzzer to give the Hawks a 29-24 lead as their fans roared loudly. Atlanta had a 20-3 run over the last 4:22 of the first.

With 9:52 left in the second, Pierce re-entered the game for Allen with Boston down 33-26 and Garnett and Rondo still on the bench. Garnett returned to the game with 7:54 left in the second and Boston down 37-29.

After a loose rebound with 7:24 left in the second and the play dead, a frustrated Garnett gave Atlanta center Zaza Pachulia a right elbow with Atlanta up 37-29. Pachulia retaliated with what appeared to be a head butt. Players for both teams began to bunch up and mouth off as a fight nearly ensued. Both coaches also ran on to the floor to separate their respective players. Pachulia was given a foul and technical foul while Garnett, Atlanta's Joe Johnson and Boston's Sam Cassell were assessed technicals.

Video replays showed that Boston center Kendrick Perkins and Atlanta forward Marvin Williams both stepped slightly on the playing floor during the altercation. The NBA could suspend Perkins and Williams for Game 5 on Wednesday in Boston for those actions.

The Celtics responded with a 10-2 run to slice their deficit to 39-37 after one made Pierce free throws. Pierce, however, picked up his third foul with Boston down 50-46 with 54.7 seconds left in the third. Atlanta went into halftime with a 51-48 halftime lead.

The Celtics shot 40.4 percent from the field in the first and only shot eight free throws. Pierce and Allen combined for 25 first half points while Garnett had 6 points on 6-of-9 shooting. By the intermission, the Hawks shot 48.6 percent from the field, shot 18 free throws and received 31 points from their backcourt of Bibby and Johnson.

Celtics reporter Marc Spears contributed to this report